


Tiger Eyes

by DeanStraightWinchester



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean does have a heart, Sam is in college, Tigers, and Charlie is a computer geek and we all love her, and Kevin worries about his college essay even though he's 16, cas, except Ellen, she's still the boss, some characters may not have the same character traits seen on the show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-18 23:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3588138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeanStraightWinchester/pseuds/DeanStraightWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*ON HIATUS BECAUSE I RAN OUT OF IDEAS SO THERE'S NO TELLING WHEN I WILL POST ANOTHER CHAPTER I'M TERRIBLY SORRY D: *<br/>Dean Winchester had thought of his life as usually interesting. He was a vet at a rehabilitation center, and there were tons of animals coming in with injuries that could be fatal that he had to fix. The best part of the job was when he got to watch them get released back in to the wild when they could. Usually they found dolphins that swallowed plastic bags, Eagles that broke a wing, or something of the likes.<br/>But when the team comes back with an animal that isn’t supposed to live in South Carolina. Things seem a little fishy.<br/>Things get more interesting for Dean when he leaves a tiger under anesthesia on his examination table to find some place to put him, and comes back to find a very attractive, but very naked man, passed out on his table.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just Another Ordinary Day

Another day at the office. Though so far today, Dean Winchester has had no animals to preform surgery on, it was only checking up on the ones he helped yesterday, and playing with the ones who are healed enough to play.

He particularly likes to play with one of the dolphins who is actually not going to be released in to the wild again. They named her Iris, though Dean forgets who came up with the name, and she’s a Bottlenose Dolphin, and had lost her left pectoral fin because of a boat propeller. They were lucky someone had found her, or she would have died, but the fin was so torn up Dean figured it would have been better to remove the whole thing.

She’s come a long way though, just about a week ago they took the bandage off of her side and the stitches are gone, really they just have to keep a constant eye on her because she is missing a fin, though Dean had already ordered a prosthetic for her that should be coming in soon.

Dean laughed as Iris swam around the tank. She was swimming better than a few days ago, he noted, as she must have been getting used to just swimming with one fin. Dean sat a little longer, waiting for the other boy working there, Kevin, to show up and take his place.

“Kevin!” Dean shouted, spotting the young boy walking over with a heavy looking bucket. The kid had been working here for most of the summer, and still struggled bringing the dolphins their food. Dean chuckled, getting up to go help him.

After dumping the bucket of food for Iris in her tank, which she happily ate, Dean turned to Kevin. “Hey buddy, wanna take over my post and watch Iris for me? I don’t really want to leave her alone, you know, cause she’s missing one of her pectoral fins?”

Kevin looked at him strangely. “Don’t use your doctor talk with me. Just say fin. But yeah, I guess I can sit down for a little bit. I’ve got to work on my college essay after all.”

Dean pat him on the back and went to check on the Eagle that they had found with a broken wing. Now that animal is one that Dean can’t really play with, and he can only observe how the bird’s wing is doing.

When he got to the eagle, he was napping, his head tucked under his broken wing, with the other wing stretched over as if to protect the broken one. Dean almost wanted to tap on the glass and wake the bird, because he really wanted to see if the eagle could fly or if it was still painful, but knew that the bird needed to rest if his wing was going to heal.

With no more animals to check on, Dean went back to his office, he needed to take care of some paperwork, and knew he was getting a little low on some things. If another animal were to come in, he would definitely have enough, but there’s no telling how many animals will come in and how severe the injuries could be, so Dean liked to be prepared.

Of course he found his cat sleeping on his chair though, and reluctantly picked her up. She meowed loudly at being woken up, but quickly settled on his lap and fell back asleep. “Hi Zissy.” Dean murmured, petting the black and white cat’s head, happy when she started to purr.

He still remembers when he got the little cat. It was a rainy day and like in a clichéd movie, there was a box that said “Free kittens” on the front with only one left, and Zissy was the runt. Apparently nobody wanted her, though Dean didn’t know why to this day, as she was so cute and fluffy. Though at the time she looked scared and cold. It was a good thing Dean was a vet.

How he got the name Zissy, was still a mystery. He was trying to say a name that she would respond to, and ended up mumbling his words, and Zissy came out, and the little cat looked up at the name. The name stuck.

Now she’s about two years old, and loves to sleep a lot. She doesn’t do much else, other than occasionally scaring the living daylights out of Dean by jumping in front of him from around a corner when he’s walking.

Now she purrs from his lap, and Dean pets her on the side of her face, which was the spot she loved to be pet. Checking his phone, Dean found that it was about 4, and in about two hours he’ll be going home. An hour after that his brother would be getting home from college and Dean will have to feed the overgrown giant because Sam couldn’t cook to save his life.

He pities whomever Sam might end up with because they’ll be doing all the cooking.

“Okay, I’ll make a call for more gauze tomorrow. We should be okay for tonight. Hmm… We’re running low on thread for sutures. I’m gonna have to call that very soon. We’re good on gloves for now. I’m out of 25-gauge needles.” Dean spoke out loud to himself, mumbling random things and writing them down on his notepad.

It was then that his cellphone rang, Jo was calling him. He picked it up quickly, figuring it must be an animal that was coming in soon and he’d have to prepare. “Jo? What animal, what should I expect?” He asked, standing up and leaving Zissy on his chair.

“Dean… Dean I don’t know how to explain this really. But, uh, we found a tiger. I think it’s a Bengal tiger. But don’t those live in like, Asia?” She spoke, not sounding certain at all. “Nevermind. Either way we have a tiger here, and it’s in the truck and I’m driving. We had to sedate it because he wouldn’t calm down, but he’s bleeding a lot. I don’t know Dean, this is really weird.”

She spoke so fast Dean barely had time to think. “That’s… strange. How far out are you? How long until you think you’ll make it here?” He asked, deciding to focus at what was more important right now, the injured tiger.

“About 15 minutes, though I may have run a stoplight or two. I’ll see you then!” She hung up and Dean was left to think on his own.

Why would a tiger be here? Dean was pretty sure the only ones that lived here were in zoos, and it’s officially illegal to own tigers because people kept getting them as cubs and realized later when they were full grown and about 5 to 10 feet in length that they weren’t cute and too hard to handle.

Dean remembers pushing for that law, because he was tired of his crew finding half dead tigers or other wild animals that weren’t able to defend themselves or get their own food because they were never taught by their biological parents. He hated seeing what those owners would do to them, and he wanted them all to just be safe.

But Dean snapped out of his thinking, because now he only had about 10 minutes to prepare, though with the way Jo sounded about her driving it could be less.

So he jumped and ran out of his room, making sure to put the baby gate back at the door because he didn’t want Zissy to piss off the eagle, or try to eat one of the other smaller birds, and ran to the operating room.

The way Jo made it sound, Dean figured on taking 30 gauzes, counting twice to make sure he was putting 30 gauzes on the table. He then took out a needle with more sedation because what the others gave him would be wearing off soon. He took out a needle and thread, making sure both were sanitized, and putting them on his little table next to the examination table too.

He was just finishing preparing when the crew came rushing in with the ginormous tiger on the stretcher. And he was a beauty, with beautiful fur. Dean helped them carefully move the body on to the table. Jo stayed, getting on her nurse stuff, while their friends left. It was just Dean, Jo, and the tiger now.

Dean could see the gash now, it was very big on the tiger’s left side, making the white belly fur a dark red color, making Dean’s blood boil. How could someone do this to a tiger? Judging from the cut, Dean could tell this cut was made from a knife.

The tiger started to stir, and Dean sedated him again, they waited for the tiger to fall asleep again before Dean began cleaning the cut.

Jo was there to count how many gauze Dean used, and to take away what was dirty. She was still a student in medical school, and for a while won’t be calling any shots. Dean always intended to hire her here for an internship, though if he didn’t Dean was sure Jo’s mother Ellen would make sure he got her a job here.

When they were finally done, Dean stared at the now sutured up cut. “Jo I think a person did this.” He spoke finally.

“That’s what I was thinking. It looks like it was made from a knife, it doesn’t look deep enough though for someone to have stabbed him, maybe he was defending himself, and the person grabbed a knife to scare him away. You know what I’m talking about?” Jo spoke, taking off her gloves and tossing them in the trash. Dean went to get something to put on top of the stitches first before he cleaned up.

“Yeah, I know what your saying. Well, we’ll figure it out somehow.” Dean took off his gloves and tossed them too. “Hey, and good luck on your test tomorrow!” Jo thanked him and left, while Dean went to go figure out where they could put a 10 foot tiger.

That tiger is about 10 feet too, Dean knows it. And that’s about as big as tigers can get, so Dean knew the tiger must be at least two years old. Dean wanted to find a tank quick though, as the tiger would be waking up soon and he didn’t want the distressed tiger to flip out and hurt itself.

He found a spot to put the tiger quickly, it was a little small for the tiger, but it would have to do for the time being. The enclosure was about 14ft by 10ft, and it was probably the biggest place they had really. Dean had no other place to put the tiger though, even if this really was meant for some bobcats.

“Okay fella, we got a spot to put you. We just gotta-“ Dean stopped talking as soon as he looked up to where the examination table was. When he left, there certainly was a 10 foot tiger there, laying unconscious with stitches on his side.

Now, now there was an unconscious man that was maybe 6 feet, and Dean would admit that he was kind of attractive, but he was also very very naked.

“Well shit.”


	2. Hello, Castiel

Dean didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know if this was some sort of sick joke or if this was real. He swore there was not a man on that table ten minutes ago.

“Hey! Dean do you need help moving that tiger?” He heard, turning to find his friend Benny walking in. Dean was about to ask if they were joking, until he turned and saw that the man was gone and once again there was a tiger.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah that’d be great. You know the enclosure we usually put bobcats in? That’s were I think he’ll have the most room.” Benny nodded, and the two went to work moving the tiger very carefully on the stretcher.

They managed together to get the big tiger in to the enclosure, and to close the little door behind them. Dean passed off the man thing as working too much, and promised he’d take a break tomorrow or something.

“Thanks Benny.” Dean clapped the guy on the shoulder, and they hugged briefly before Benny left for the night, he was leaving early because he had a date with some girl, and Dean was nice enough to let him leave early.

“Hey Dean, I got to go home and finish my college essay, you mind if I leave a little early?” Kevin asked, holding up the keys to his crappy truck he drives to school every day. Dean shrugged.

“Sure kid, have fun.” Kevin snorted and Dean ruffled the boys hair. Even though Kevin was only 16, he was already working on his college essay. Dean found it odd, but Kevin saw it as planning ahead.

But Dean knew even Sam didn’t plan _that_ far ahead. Kevin was just weird like that, but Dean didn’t mind. As long as an animal didn’t die while Kevin was watching them.

Soon everyone had left for the night, except Dean. Dean stood by the tiger’s enclosure, looking at the big beast through the glass. Why would he see that huge thing as the little weak man he saw before?

But then Dean turned to go gather Zissy and be off for the night, and when he walked back out with his cat in his arms, he saw a man again. This time, the man was stirring.

Dean was frozen, and Zissy seemed slightly intrigued. The man had dark hair that looked messy and stuck up in odd spots, he was attractive, and when he opened his eyes Dean thought he had never seen eyes any bluer.

The man jumped up, startled, and Dean saw the gauze he wrapped around the stitches fall off. The gash on his side seemed larger now on the now smaller man. Dean knew this had to be the tiger from before; either that or someone slipped something strong in his coffee this morning.

Dean watched as the man walked cautiously towards the glass, then tapped the glass once, twice, then a third time. Dean, still cradling Zissy, walked towards the glass too, and tapped three times.

“Did someone drug me today?” He asked out loud, and the man looked frustrated, banging on the glass with a fist, causing Dean to jump back, and Zissy jumped out of his hands. But he trusted the cat, she would probably run back towards his office.

The man turned around, and spotted the little trap door that Dean and Benny had used to put the tiger in. He ran towards it. Dean couldn’t see what the man was doing, but he was still frozen to the spot.

The man tried opening the trap door, but it was impossible. That door was made to withstand animals using all their strength against it, to protect the other animals, and the people working there.

Dean suddenly snapped out of his daze when the man was banging on the window again, and pointing towards the door.

“You-You want to get let out?” Dean dumbly asked, walking towards where they hung the keys on the wall. He picked up the keys and went to the back to let the tiger man thing out.

He opened the trap door, and the man threw himself out of there, running past Dean and slamming in to the door.

Dean held his hands up, scared now, as he didn’t know what this guy was, but he was a tiger and now he’s not and Dean was scared.

The man squinted, looking over Dean and deciding if Dean was a threat probably. He was still naked though, and that kind of made Dean uncomfortable. He kept trying _not_ to look, but he kept looking anyway, and shamed himself every time.

It was stressful for Dean, because according to his family he was straight. But he wasn’t, he knew that. He knew that back in 8th grade when Casey Rogers, sadly and wrongly dubbed the school’s slut, asked him to prom, and when they started making out in the corner Dean didn’t feel anything.

Then afterwards when he saw his friend Jay standing nearby with a shirt that was pretty tight to his chest, everyone assumed Dean had the hots for Casey. He didn’t. But he let them think that, because he knew nobody could know he’s gay, he was too scared.

And now there was a very attractive man in front of him, _naked_ , and Dean just wanted to rip his cloths off and ride this man.

The man walked closer, crouching though, and Dean could see the strain he was putting on the sutures that were too big and thick for a man. “You’re bleeding.” Dean pointed out, and the man looked down at himself, then back at Dean.

“I, uh, can fix that.” Dean offered, and the man seemed to have considered his offer. After a few minutes of the man staring at Dean, and Dean trying not to shit his pants, the man finally nodded, and stood to his full height.

Dean scratched behind his head. “Uh, this way.” He turned and started walking down the hallway in the direction of the surgery room.

The man behind him took cautious steps, looking around him and being on high alert of his surroundings. Dean told him to sit on the table, the man sat down eventually, but not after testing the table that it would hold weight.

Dean got some gauze; he was running low now, and some smaller sutures. He briefly considered taking a sip from the bottle of Jack Daniels he had in his office, but new he shouldn’t.

“Uh, it’s going to hurt so..” Dean trailed off, looking at the man. For a while they stared, green eyes in to blue, then the man made a gesture to come near.

“Uh, whatever you say. Could you, uhm, lay down please?” Dean made a weird hand motion, and the man nodded, though regarded Dean with a look that said “If you try to kill me I’ll lay you to waste faster than you can say boo.”

Dean took that as a serious warning. He tried to carefully take out the sutures, replacing each one with a smaller one after he took them out. The man barely made a noise, only once did he grunt, and that was when he went to sit up.

Dean was surprised, because just a day ago he had gotten a paper cut and had swore like a sailor while he was trying to get a bandage. Sam had called him a baby, though the giant shouldn’t be talking, Dean still remembers the time he nearly cried after stubbing his toe on the door.

“So, uh. I’m Dean. Wh-Who are you?” Dean asked, cleaning off his tools and throwing the garbage away. The man stared for a while, then finally opened his mouth.

“Castiel.” Was all he said, though Dean was surprised he talked at all. The man’s voice was gravelly and rough, and he sounded like he hadn’t had a glass of water in years.

“So, uh, Castiel. Were, were you really a tiger just a few moments ago?” Dean asked, his voice going up a few octaves in the end.

“Yes. Do you have shelter for me?” Castiel asked, and Dean didn’t know what to say really. Was he really going to bring a naked man home? What was he going to tell Sam?

“Do you have any cloths?” Dean asked, standing in front of the man and pointedly not looking down. Castiel looked down at himself and realized the problem.

“Uh. No. I forgot human custom was to wear clothing over their genitals.” Castiel hopped down and looked around. “Do you have a blanket of some sort?” He asked, and Dean managed to find one.

It was blue, though to himself Dean made a comment that it wasn’t as blue as Castiel’s eyes. “Uhm, I’m gonna go get my cat.” Dean pointed to his office, knowing Zissy was probably there waiting for him. His office was her safe spot she always went there.

Sure enough, when he got to his office, Zissy was in her spot on his chair. He does have a cat bed in here, but Zissy prefers his chair, maybe because it’s higher up and she probably thinks of herself as better than everyone else. Dean didn’t know. “Okay, come on Zissy.” Dean picked up the cat, and she let out an annoyed meow, but settled in to his arms.

He made his way back to the surgery room, and found Castiel sitting there still. “Come on, Cas.” He mumbled, and the man, tiger, whatever he was, got up and followed the surgeon out of the building he worked in.

“Did you just call me ‘Cas’?” Castiel asked, his voice sounded rough still, and Dean thought maybe he should have offered a glass of water to the man. But a quick look at his watch said he had to get back before Sam did, and that he was definitely ordering pizza tonight.

“Uh, yeah. Do you mind? Castiel is kind of… long.” Dean knew what else was long. He also wanted to smack himself for thinking about that, and cursed himself silently for himself blushing. He knew he was blushing.

“No, it is fine. My siblings have called me worse.” Cas said, but then looked sad at the mention of his family. Dean wanted to ask why, but then the man’s face went emotionless again, and Dean figured he really didn’t want to cause him any more pain.

Instead he showed the man to his ’67 Chevy Impala, opening the back door to put Zissy in her cage he put in the back. But Dean never liked to think of it as a cage, because it was mostly soft and she never seemed bothered by it. He only got it so that she wouldn’t fly to the front if they got in a car crash, and so that she wouldn’t scratch up the interior.

“You can sit in the front, Cas.” Dean spoke, gesturing to the front seat, he then himself got in to the drivers seat. He started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.“So. I have a brother, Sam. Just thought that I’d, uh, warn you.”

Castiel looked over at the man, pulled the blanket over himself tighter, and shrugged. “That is fine. I will try not to stay long.” He said finally, turning to look out the window.

Dean nodded, though the man wasn’t looking at him. He reached over to turn on the radio, and Hey Jude by The Beatles came on. “Ugh, mushy songs.” Dean muttered, reaching to turn the radio to a different channel.

Castiel reached out a hand and stopped him. “Would you mind? I like this song.” He asked, his voice softer now. Dean looked at the man for a moment, and nodded. Castiel let out a sigh and looked out the window again.

“ _Hey Jude, don’t be afraid. You were made to go out and get her_.” Dean wondered why Castiel would like this song, it seemed pretty sad. Dean tried to keep his eyes on the road, but he glanced quickly to the side and saw that Cas was staring out the window looking like someone had just punched him in the gut.

Dean wanted to ask why this song seemed to cause him so much pain, and why he would still listen to it, but he had a feeling Cas wouldn’t actually answer.

Soon they were pulling in to the garage of Dean’s house. He and Cas stepped out of the car. “Hey watch where you walk by the way, there’s some glass and stuff around here.” Dean warned him, realizing that he didn’t give the man any shoes.

He let Zissy out of her cage, and she jumped from the car and ran for the door, pawing at it to be let inside. Dean opened the door and looked back to Cas. Castiel was taking Dean’s advice seriously, and was watching exactly what he stepped on. It seemed a little over board, but Dean thought that at least he wouldn’t have to clean up the man’s feet too.

Zissy went straight for her food bowl, sitting there and staring Dean down waiting for him to pour some kibble in. Dean sighed, knowing if he didn’t feed her now she’d follow him around the house until he did feed her, and put some kibble in her bowl. She purred very loudly as she ate.

Dean led Cas to the living room, which was right by the kitchen. The garage door was in the back of the kitchen, and Dean reminded himself he had to buy pizza. “You can sit here, I’ll just go order pizza and then get you some cloths. Do you mind if I get peperoni?” Dean asked the man who shrugged and told him he’ll eat whatever. Dean looked at the time; 6:50, Sam will be home soon.

He quickly ordered a pizza that was half peperoni and half mixed vegetables. Sam was one weird kid, and Dean knew he did not get the healthy side from him or Dad. He didn’t think Sam got it from Mom either, cause Mom was never to the extreme about being healthy.

He then ran up stairs, going for his room on the left. His freaky giant brother would be no use in the way of cloths for Cas. Castiel was closer to Dean’s size, though still a little shorter.

He grabbed a pair of sweats, and a old black tee-shirt for Cas. Then he got changed himself out of his work cloths in to some comfortable PJ pants and his Led Zeppelin shirt. He then went downstairs and gave the cloths to Cas, directing him to the bathroom downstairs, which was just off to the right of the living room near where the office was.

Usually they don’t use the office. When Sam was still in high school, Dean would use it to study when Sam was home sick. Now, Dean uses it to get paperwork done for the clinic when Sam is home sick. Even if his little brother complained about him staying home for him, Dean would still stay home because nobody else is going to cook lunch for the kid.

Also he liked feeling needed by his little brother. Even if Sam was now 21 and legally old enough to drink, Dean just liked feeling like he still mattered in his little brother’s life. Though he’d never admit that out loud and would deny it to the grave.

When Cas came out of the bathroom, Dean felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Finally he could look at the man and not see him completely naked. Though he still got an eyeful of those arm muscles, Dean felt like he could handle this Castiel better.

“Alright, pizza will be here in twenty, and Sam should be home soon. Now, um, about the tiger thing…” Dean wandered off the topic, not really knowing what to say about it.

Castiel picked up where he left off. “In due time I will answer your questions. But for now, can we not talk about it, around your brother at least.” Castiel sat down on the big couch, and Dean took the small recliner.

“Yeah, yeah sure. I really wouldn’t want to freak Sammy out anyway. He’s got college stuff to worry about.” Dean reached forward for the remote, flicking on the TV and changing it to Boomerang. As childish as it may be, He liked watching the older cartoons like Tom and Jerry, and Scooby Doo.

Castiel seemed so awkward on the couch, sitting upright with his feet on the ground and his hands in his lap, his back didn’t even touch the back of the couch. “You can relax, you know.” Dean said, and Cas instantly relaxed. He slumped in the chair, arms spread out, and legs opened.

Dean relaxed too. “So, what is your brother going to college for?” Cas asked, looking over at Dean.

“He wants to be a lawyer. I was hoping he wouldn’t ‘cause a lot of lawyers I’ve seen are jerks. But I dunno.” Dean waved a hand dismissively. The front door opened, and in came Sam.

“DEAN I’M HOOO- oh.” Sam stopped mid-shout, realizing his brother was right there. “Usually you’re in the kitchen.” He used as an explanation. He hadn’t noticed Cas yet.

“Yeah. We’re having pizza tonight. I got your nerdy salad one.” Dean stood up, taking Sam’s bag and dumping it on the loveseat. “By the way, this is my, uh, friend. Cas.” Dean gestured to Cas, who was now sitting a little nicer, but still more comfortable than at first.

“You have friends?” Sam asked, Dean punched him in the shoulder jokingly.

“You better watch it kid, I can still kick your butt.” Dean laughed, and Sam joined in. Sam walked over to Cas, holding out a hand.

Cas stood up and shook it. “Hello Sam, nice to meet you.” He spoke, smiling. It was the first time Dean had seen the man smile. Why couldn’t he make the man smile?

“Nice to meet you too Cas.” Sam looked back towards Dean. “I’ll be back, gonna go get changed in to pajamas.” He then sprinted up the stairs, which made Dean tired just by looking at him do it.

Dean and Cas sat back down, watching TV. Soon the doorbell rang and Dean paid the guy for the pizza, bringing it in and setting it on the counter. He would have gotten two pies, but Sam wouldn’t eat a whole pie of his gross pizza in a night, and Dean knew he didn’t have any room in the freezer. So he and Cas would probably get snacks later.

“PIZZA’S HERE!” He yelled, and soon heard stomping down the stairs. Cas walked in like a normal person, and Sam ran in, taking two slices of his veggie pizza, and then running back up to his room.

“I’m not cleaning your sheets tomorrow!” Dean yelled up to the boy, jokingly. Though he really did kind of hope Sam wasn’t watching porn up there, not while he has a guest over. But Sam was a prude, he probably wasn’t.

Dean ended up eating a couple of slices of his side of the pizza, and let Cas have the rest, as that man was starving. It seemed like he hadn’t seen food in weeks. Dean wondered where the hell this guy was before this.

When they were done, and Dean was sure Sam was asleep, as Sam goes to sleep at 10 every night, and it was almost 11 now, Dean finally decided to ask his questions.

“So, Castiel,” Dean coughed awkwardly, “what are you?” He asked, though it kind of came out mean. He went to say sorry when Cas held up a hand, saying that he wasn’t offended.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! There's the next chapter!  
> Really getting in to this story now. I'm really excited?   
> I dunno, but anyway, love my cliffhanger? It's not that bad right?   
> Well, hope you loved this chapter :)


	3. Late Night Talking and Pizza

Dean leaned back in the chair, getting comfortable. “I like long stories.” He said, which was a complete lie. Dean hated long stories, especially if they were boring, because then he had to sit there and do nothing. Dean can’t sit still it’s not in him he’ll end up twiddling his thumbs or moving too much. But he was interested in this mans story.

Castiel sat back and thought for a while. “ We are Weretigers, there are many other species similar, humans most commonly know the Werewolves, though I suppose the name sounds better off the tongue. ” He pulled his legs up on the couch, getting more comfortable, and Dean suddenly felt like he was a therapist and Cas was the person in therapy.

“We live in East Asia, mostly. It helps to blend in with the tigers there, when we change. The people there don’t realize we are there as our tribes live in the rainforests and hide well. But much like the human trafficking, there is Shifter trafficking. They take children usually, around age ten. At ten years children are expected to go out and hunt for the first time on their own, to show that they are maturing. But recently I expect those traditions have been done away with.”

Cas scratched his head and looked at Dean, but his eyes were cloudy and unfocused.

“I was ten, and it was my first hunt. I hadn’t thought much of it, because it seemed like any other hunt I’ve gone on with my father. But this time I was alone. It was after I brought down a small deer. But then I heard something, but I couldn’t scent anything, my mouth could only smell the deer blood. Then something hit me in the back of the head so hard, and I was stunned. But I saw them, until they covered my head.”

Dean could see the man was going through the memory again. The man curled in on himself, bringing his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them. Dean wanted to reach out and comfort the man, but didn’t. He didn’t really know Cas, and wasn’t sure if the man would like the comfort or not.

“They had given me a needle, and I fell asleep after that. When I woke up I was in a cage, and although I didn’t know it at the time, I was in America. There was a man there, he told me to shift back in to my tiger form; that I must never change in to my human form unless my master told me to. So I did.”

Castiel stilled for a moment. He seemed to be stuck in a trance, and he was. He was reliving the horrible moments. Castiel couldn’t stop the memories. He remembers the pain at the back of his head, he wanted to cry out but he was stunned. Then they covered his head, and he thrashed. He remembers shouting and someone kicked him in the side, before someone finally injected him with something to knock him out.

“ _Where am I? Where’s my mommy?_ ” He recalls asking, trying to stand up in the cage but being too tall to do so. He remembers it was just long enough for a full grown tiger, which he wasn’t at the time, but not tall enough for a person to stand up in. He remembers crouching, rubbing the bump on the back of his head, and feeling the chill on his bare body.

“ _Shut up brat. Change back in to a tiger. Don’t change back until your master tells you to.”_ A man had spoken, standing in front of his cage, which was raised a little to chest level for the man. The man was muscular, and had a shaved head. Cas remembers saying he didn’t have a master, and the man had gotten angry.

“ _Change in to a freaking tiger! Do what I tell you! Just change you ugly brat!_ ” He had screamed while banging on the bars of the cage, getting close and Cas had felt the spit of the man land on his face. He remembers the man cursing at him too.

Cas remembers crying and changing in to a tiger again, laying down and wishing to weep. Wishing to be home, wishing to be anywhere but there. Castiel remembers that he was thinking of his parents, what would happen to them? What of his little brother, Samadriel? Who would help him learn how to change? He’s 4, and he still hadn’t changed yet.

Normally babies have changed once or twice while still breastfeeding. At that young, they can’t really control it, it just happens. Cas hated when babies changed though, as the first few changes take longer and the babies cry because they feel their bones snapping and rearranging. But by 4 years the toddlers have grown used to the feeling, and can change quicker and with ease.

He remembers worrying over his friends, who were supposed to go on their hunts after him, where they here, now? Where they going through this torture now too? He remembers praying to God for an answer, or for help. Anything to get him home. _He just wanted to go home_.

Castiel pulled himself out of the trance, realizing Dean had been watching him for quite some time now. He opened his mouth again to speak, to try and tell Dean what happened next, but found that he really didn’t know how to put anything in to words anymore. “I’d… I’d like to go to bed now, if you don’t mind.” He whispered, looking away from Dean.

Dean nodded. “Yeah, yeah sure. Come on, I’ll go show you the guest room.” Dean got up, and led Cas upstairs. The guest room was next to Dean’s, and across from Dean’s and the guest room was Sammy’s, which was the biggest room. Dean gave it to Sammy because he was kind of spoiling the boy after their parent’s death, and Dean didn’t have much stuff anyway. Next to Sam’s room was the bathroom, which was medium sized.

He opened the door and gestured to the room. “Here’s the room, uh, the bathroom is that door, and obviously the door that has ‘ _Sam’s Room’_ written on it is Sammy’s room.” Dean chuckled. “I’m the room right next to yours.” He added, and almost wanted to say ‘ _if you need me_ ,’ but figured that might sound weird.

Cas nodded, and thanked Dean, before going in to the room. It was plain, with a cream colored comforter and pillows with white covers. There was a nightstand on the right side of the bed with a lamp on it, which was turned on right now. Cas saw that there was a switch at the door to turn it on and off.

He crawled under the blanket on the bed, and turned off the lamp. Cas closed his eyes and breathed in slowly. He was out. He was out. He was _out._ No more “yes master” or “thank you master.” No more collars, or late nights, no more torture. This Dean guy seems trustable, he has a little brother in college, and seemed like he cares about the animals there.

Cas had finally convinced himself he was safe, when he finally could relax and sleep. For the first time in forever, Castiel had felt safe when he went to sleep, on an actual bed. Maybe things would get better now, right?

* * *

 

Dean woke up early for once. But that was because his phone was screaming at him. Still sleepy and trying to wake up, Dean picked up the phone to a frantic Jo. “ _Hell_ Jo its-“

“The tiger!” Jo screamed, and Dean stood up. What was he supposed to do about the fact that the ‘tiger’ was gone? He can’t just show up with a tiger and say ‘oops sorry took it home with me,’ he couldn’t tell Jo about Cas’ secrete. The man trusted him. “He’s gone!”

Dean thought for a moment. An idea sprung up. “Shit, maybe me and Benny didn’t close the door all the way.” He prayed that Jo took the lie. Dean thought he sounded convincing, but Jo was like her mother, and Ellen Harvelle always knew when someone was lying to her. And Ellen didn’t take crap from anyone.

“Shit Dean! You’re the freaking owner of this place, didn’t your dad teach you how to properly close a freaking trap door?” Jo cursed at him, sighing and probably pacing around. Then Dean realized something.

“Jo, why are you at the sanctuary at 6 in the morning?” He asked, rubbing his eyes and trying to bite back a yawn. He hoped he could go to sleep after this. “Don’t you have classes?”

“No, my first class the professor is sick so he canceled class. I don’t have to be at school until 9. Since I was already up and dressed, and ready to go, I decided to check in on the animals. But _someone_ left a door open, and now I’m gonna have to take a crew out to find an injured tiger.” Jo sighed. “And with the bleeding that one had, I doubt he made it through the night.”

Dean sighed too, trying to sound sad, but he really wasn’t. Dean was relieved that she took the lie. He would have hung himself if he had to explain the whole situation, especially since he’d be blushing, and Jo had a sixth sense about blushing. He didn’t want her to find out he’s gay, and then hate him.

“I’m sorry Jo.” Jo told him to get more sleep and come in when he’s able to close a door properly, and then hung up. Dean decided to lay down for a little bit, because he was up late last night thinking over what happened, and only got about 6 hours of sleep, but he knew that Sam was going to be up soon, and that boy would burn down the kitchen trying to make himself cereal.

Well, that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but Dean really wouldn’t be surprised if Sam managed to burn down the kitchen trying to pour milk. He did set himself on fire trying to cook something on the stove, and he did start a fire in the microwave, Dean still doesn’t know how he did _that_. That boy had a bad relationship with fires.

So Dean dragged himself out of bed, and down the stairs, already hearing Sam in the shower. He was gonna be a while, so Dean decided to make pancakes. Pancakes are good, they’d be better if he had chocolate chips, but Dean knew he was out. He did have blueberries though, which would make Sam happy. The dork.

Dean was in the middle of mixing the batter; with his radio on blasting AC/DC’s _Big Balls_ playing lowly when Cas had walked in. Dean hadn’t noticed that anyone had walked in though, and continued to sing the song. “ _It’s my belief that my big balls should be held every night._ ” Dean sang, turning around, and stopped mixing the batter.

“Uh, mornin’ Cas.” He mumbled, turning around as he started blushing. He didn’t really know why, because it was just a song right? Not according to the downstairs brain though. Dean was grateful his sweatpants were baggy, and he was wearing the apron Sam got him as a joke. He quickly changed the song, and the next one that came on was _Highway To Hell_ by AC/DC, which Dean found was more appropriate.

“Morning Dean.” Cas sat on the bar stool at the bar of the kitchen, and rested his head in his palm. He was staring outside at the trees in the front of their yard. Dean didn’t know what the man was so interested in outside.

“Dean, have you seen my chrome book? I need it for class today.” Sam asked, running downstairs with his hair still wet and his shirt on backwards. Dean wanted to laugh, what a dork.

“I don’t know, check the office. By the way, your shirts on backwards.” Dean snickered, turning and pouring the batter on the pan. He put the bowl down to take the bacon off the pan, putting it on a plate and on the counter in front of Cas.

Sam glared at Dean, taking off his shirt and turning it around. But the boy still seemed flustered and like he’d loose his head if he could. Dean took the first pancake off the stove and handed it to his little brother, he and Cas could wait a few.

“What’s got you so jumpy this morning?” Dean asked, leaning against the counter and watching his brother hurriedly run around grabbing a sweatshirt, putting on a shoe, yes just one, and then grabbing his back. “Hey dumbass, you forgot a shoe.”

Sam blushed real hard, putting his other shoe on. “Nothing. I just, have you seen my wallet?” Sam asked, turning towards his brother. Castiel was now watching the two talk.

“Check your pocket Sherlock. And your phone is probably in your room, before you ask.” Dean chuckled, already guessing that maybe Sammy met a girl. Dean turned back to the stove to cook the rest of the pancakes, reaching back and taking a piece of bacon to eat before Cas ate them all.

Sam’s feet stomped down the stairs and the boy practically ran out the door. “Thanks Dean! I won’t be coming to the sanctuary for lunch by the way bye!” He yelled before grabbing the keys and sprinting out the door. Dean went to go close the door for Sam, seeing as he left it partially open.

“Wow, I guess Sammy’s got a date.” Dean joked, turning back towards Cas, who was smiling himself.

“Your brother seems awfully flustered.” Cas pointed out. “Maybe he has found his mate.” Dean looked at the man weird; mate was not something normal people said.

But Dean shrugged it off, Castiel could change in to a freaking tiger, calling Sam’s girlfriend his mate hardly seemed weird in comparison. He went back to cooking, and ended up cooking a lot of pancakes. He figured he’d put whatever ones he and Cas didn’t eat in the fridge, so Sam could eat some cold pancakes when he has to rush to school.

As Dean poured an unhealthy amount of syrup on his pancakes, he once again asked Castiel about what happened. “I mean, it’s not every day a tiger shows up with a big gash on their side and then changes in to a man.” He spoke around the pancakes in his mouth.

Castiel thought back to that terrifying night. How he had walked for so long struggling with each step as he bled and left a visible trail. He had a feeling the man would find him again, whether it be the blood trail, the paw prints, a person freaking out when they saw him or just stumbling upon his dead body. But he had tried to fight to get away, if maybe for a little peace.

“Like I said, it’s a long story.” He mumbled after swallowing his pieces of pancake. As much as Cas enjoyed some of the foods humans came up with, he was still missing the hunts he used to go on with his father and siblings. He couldn’t even remember the taste of fresh kill; he could only remember the pride in his father’s eyes when he and his brothers and sisters caught something.

“But what happened? You were telling me last night, why not now?” Dean pushed, very curious as to what happened to his new friend. He hadn’t even realized how retelling the story could be traumatic for Cas.

“I really would wish that you would stop pushing me Dean. I would rather not speak about it right now.” Cas dropped the fork on the plate and looked up at Dean in his eyes. Cas regretted talking about his life to Dean, he barely knew the man, how stupid was he to trust some random vet?

“Oh, uh, sorry man.” Dean chews some more on his breakfast, this time with his mouth closed. “Hey, maybe we can, uh, I dunno, trade stories?” Castiel looked down and continued to eat his own breakfast.

“Okay then.” He said, a little bit curious himself as to why Sam was living with his brother, and why they actually seemed close. Castiel had observed that for humans it wasn’t normal for siblings to be close like that, and he had seen the love in Dean’s eyes when he joked with Sam, it was like the love he had seen in his father and mother’s eyes when they looked at Cas and his siblings.

“Alrighty then.” Dean said, not really knowing what to say. “Did I ever tell you about the time Sammy and I dressed up like superheroes and jumped off the roof of our Uncle Bobby’s shed?” Cas shook his head, chuckling at the thought. But he couldn’t imagine a younger Sam and Dean, so he imagined the current Sam and Dean, which was still humorous.

“Well _I_ was dressed like Superman, so it made sense you know? Also I was like 9, so back then it made sense. Sammy was like 5 and he was Batman. We recorded it too, but I think Bobby lost the tape. I jumped first and kind of rolled my ankle, and then fell forward and got a little scraped up. But then Sammy jumped and he jumped really weird and ended up breaking his arm.”

Dean laughed. “I had to bring him to the ER on my bike because Bobby left to go shopping, said he wanted some peace and quiet. But after that he never let us too far out of his sight.”

Castiel laughed too. He didn’t know who this Bobby was, but he did sound like a smart man. The Winchesters also sounded like some of the boys Cas knew from his tribe.

“You know, this one boy from my tribe, he is a lot like you and Sam were. One time he went around to all the younger tykes in the tribe with a snake, shoving it in their faces until one of the boys shoved it back to him and the snake bit him. It was, lucky for him, just a garter snake, so it wasn’t poisonous.” Castiel laughed, but wouldn’t name the boy. Naming him would only remind him of his demise.

“Wow, that sucks. Did he stop after that?” Dean asked, and Castiel shook his head, laughing. “Yeah, that sounds like me and Sammy. We still did some crazy crap even with Sam’s arm in a cast.”

The two chuckled, and Dean checked the time. He had to be at work soon, so he excused himself from the kitchen to go shower and change. After a long time in the shower, deciding what he should do with Castiel, Dean finally got out and changed in to new cloths.

He didn’t have cloths for Castiel that would actually fit, so maybe they would go shopping or something on Dean’s day off tomorrow. That is, if Cas stayed with Dean that long. The man didn’t know if the were creature would want to stay with him any longer.

Dean told Cas that he had to work, and that Cas was welcome to leave if he really wanted, but that Dean would be back at somewhere around 6-ish. He also told the man that if Cas was still here tomorrow, they could go shopping. Cas took in all the information and nodded, then told Dean that he wouldn’t mess up his nice house.

Dean left for work, trying to forget about the man that could turn in to a tiger at his house, and trying to focus on the animals he had to check up on today, but really he only thing he had on his mind was a certain blue-eyed man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY IF ITS A LITTLE SHORT AND I'M SORRY IF THE ENDING IS KINDA BAD I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE THE ENDING AND I'M SORRY IF ITS CRAP AND I'M SORRY THAT THERE WAS A LONG WAIT  
> I'm never signing up for another sport again, basically, it take up way too much of my time. Okay, hope you enjoyed :)


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